Tag: Fall Desserts

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts

S’More Cookies*

Chocolate Castles3 Comments

2014-09-08 15.43.20

Mr. Smarty Pants made his point that he was tired of running back and forth to get baking items for me when he brought this home this weekend. I put it beside the 25 lb sack of sugar that he made me buy and told him that I had had enough of his smart alec suggestions, that unless I got the desire to make 100 dz hot tamales, he can just march right back to the store and buy my butter flavored Crisco, which I’m sure is much more healthy than the bucket of lard.  So while I wait for him to get back with my Crisco to make these cookies, I don’t want him to know that I am actually using the lard to make pie crusts. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.  It truly makes great pie crusts but when people comment and tell you that that is the best pie crusts EVER, I just never quite have the nerve to tell them why. When people hear the word “lard” they think immediate heart attack. So it will be my little secret. I just tell them it is an old family recipe.

These cookies are so munchable (is that a word)?

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup Crisco

1 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temp

1 tables vanilla

\2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups firmly packed graham-cracker crumbs

3/4 teas baking powder

3/4 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1 ( 11.5 oz) bag semisweet chocolate chunks

1 1/4 cups marshmallow bits *Jet-puffed Mallow Bits)

1 sleeve (about 9) crackers, broken into small pieces

preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Beat at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, graham-cracker crumbs, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well combined. Beat in chocolate chunks and marshmallow bits. Beat in graham crackers, beating just until combined.

Drop cookies by rounded tablespoon , 2″ apart onto prepared baking pan. Garnish tops of cookies with additional marshmallow bits, if desired.

Bake for 10 min or until lightly browned. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 min before removing to wire racks to completely cool.

Makes about 4 dozen

*taken from Southern Lady, Oct 2013

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Breads · Breakfast · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Pumpkin Poppers

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Yesterday Peter & Penelope Pumpkin wandered around the Americana, stopping to have lunch and then to the movies to see Gravity. Afterward, we wanted just to sit outside with Starbucks and people watch, which is free and we enjoyed that much more than Gravity. Guess we aren’t sci-fi people, we are more people watching people. We are sitting there just enjoying the cool Fall air, watching all the people walking by when I look over to see a bakery called Deluca’s. I immediately grabbed my Saturday allowance out of hubbies wallet and headed over. When I entered, the nice little boy of 12 asked if he could help me. I told him that I wanted the lemon meringue bars that I fell in love with in New York. He informed me that they were not even associated with Dean & Duluca’s in NY but told me to follow him over to their dessert section and proceeded to show me their great desserts. One was a Whoopie Pie with a Nutella Whip filling. He actually gave me a sample of the filling and whoa, it was really good. Am going to have to make those. Then he showed me their Pumpkin Poppers.   Only 99cents each and I could have eaten a dozen.  There were miniature pumpkin muffins rolled in a heavy coating of cinnamon sugar mixture.  All I had taken with me was $2, so I got two. Bringing them back to Peter, I told him what I had got, hoping that he would say, “oh that’s ok, you eat them both, that doesn’t sound very good to me.” But the opposite happened. He grabbed the last one and scarfed it down, like he hadn’t had sugar in a week. He looked at me and said, “these are amazing”, when are you going to make us some?” So guess what I am doing today? Making mini pumpkin muffins and rolling them in cinnamon sugar.

What a great little coffee break goodie.   Wanted to give you a fresh idea of how to take your favorite pumpkin muffins to a new level. A sugar level.  Easy to pop in your mouth with one hand, as you are playing Candy Crush. An really, how fattening can a little popper be?

Uncategorized

Apple Cake

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I didn’t realize that I apparently had forgot to post this recipe when I made it the last 100 times. it is a keeper!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 3 cups finely chopped raw apples (or grated)
  • .
  • Frosting:
  • 1/2 cup butter (4 ounces)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons milk
  • 1 box confectioners’ sugar (1 pound), about 4 cups

Preparation:

Measure vegetable oil into large mixing bowl.  Add sugar and eggs.  Beat on low speed until creamy.  Sift flour and measure.  Sift again and add salt, soda and baking powder.  Add a small amount of the flour mixture at a time to the creamed mixture.  Beat well after each addition.  When all flour has been added, or when batter becomes very stiff, remove electric mixer. Fold in chopped pecans and chopped apples with a wooden spoon.  Spread evenly into a 9″x13″ pan (or 2 – 9″ pans) lined with lightly greased  wax paper.  Bake in 350° oven for 45 to 55 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Carefully loosen edges and turn onto cake rack, remove wax paper, cool and frost.    

Make Frosting: Cook butter and sugar together until well blended and sugar is dissolved.  Add 3 tablespoons  milk and 1 box of confectioners’ sugar.  Beat and add just enough milk to spread.

More Recipes Shirl’s Apple Cake Tennessee Apple Stack Cake Sour Cream Apple Cake

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Pumpkin, Caramel & Pecan Cheesecake

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What better way to celebrate Fri than with a new recipe! It has been a very stressful morning. Decisions, decisions. We are going to some friends home for dinner and guess who volunteered to bring dessert? Knowing that I wanted to make something “fallish” two different recipes came to mind. This new recipe from Philadelphia Cream Cheese or one of my fall favs, fresh apple cake with brown sugar frosting.

Peter Pumpkin and I seem to load up on apples each and every week, thinking that what better time to begin eating healthy? Each time we come back from the grocery determined to load up our bodies with fresh fruit; thus the apples and bananas that we take out of the reusable bags. The only problem with this new resolution (actually it isn’t new, it’s something we’ve resolved to do since January, 1996, but never find the right time to begin) is that as the week goes by with the fruit still sitting there, staring back at us, it becomes apparent that it is no longer “fresh fruit” and is begging to be used in some delicious baked good that thrives on over ripe fruit to make it moisturie (I know I know, but it just seems to be the right word). So since I had apples laying out looking ever so “please use me, please use me” I decided to make a fresh apple cake tonight. But because that recipe is already on the post, I wanted to give you the other dessert that was the 2nd option for tonight. Will make it when I have used up all our over ripe fruit. Will start again on Mon with new fresh fruit. Who knows, maybe by next Fri, I will have found new recipes that use really ripe apples and bananas? In the meantime…..

Makes 16 Servings

Prep Time: 15 min (now that should catch your eye)

1/2 cup chopped pecans, divided

18 Nabisco Ginger Snaps, finely crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 packages ( 8 oz ea) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teas vanilla

1 teas vanilla

 4 eggs

25 caramels

1/4 cup milk

Heat oven t0 325. Chop 1/4 cup of the pecans very fine in a bowl. Add ginger snap crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture onto bottom of a 13×9″ pan. Set aside.  Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl. With hand mixer, beat until blended. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla, mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 45 min or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Microwave caramels and milk in microwavable bowl for 1 1/2 min or until caramels are completely melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Add the other 1/4 cup chopped pecans and spoon over individual servings of cheesecake. Top with whipping cream if desired.